Helically-packaged expansion joint seal system with impregnated foam and overlapping low-friction casing

ABSTRACT

A foam-based expansion joint seal system packaging which facilitates transport and reduces the need for internal splices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/412,080 for Helically-packaged expansion joint seal system preparedfor change in direction, filed May 14, 2019, which is incorporatedherein by reference and the benefit of and priority to are herebyclaimed, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/173,823 for Helically-packaged expansion joint seal system withcoiling, tear strips or secondary packaging, filed Oct. 29, 2018 andissued Aug. 20, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,385,518, which is incorporatedherein by reference and the benefit of and priority to are herebyclaimed, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/854,152 for Helically-packaged expansion joint seal system, filedDec. 26, 2017 and issued Mar. 12, 2019 as U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10,227,734, which is incorporated herein by reference and thebenefit of and priority to are hereby claimed.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates generally to packaging of systems forcreating a durable seal between adjacent panels, including those whichmay be subject to seismic or temperature expansion and contractionand/or mechanical shear. More particularly, the present disclosure isdirected to a design for packaging and shaping/forming such expansionjoint seal systems which facilitates transport, reduces material damage,the need for internal splices and waste.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Construction panels come in many different sizes and shapes and may beused for various purposes, including roadways, sideways, and pre-caststructures, particularly buildings. Use of precast concrete panels forinterior and exterior walls, ceilings and floors, for example, hasbecome more prevalent. As precast panels are often aligned in generallyabutting relationship, forming a lateral gap or joint between adjacentpanels to allow for independent movement, such in response to ambienttemperature variations within standard operating ranges, buildingsettling or shrinkage and seismic activity. Moreover, these joints aresubject to damage over time. Most damage is from vandalism, wear,environmental factors and when the joint movement is greater, the sealmay become inflexible, fragile or experience adhesive or cohesivefailure. As a result, “long lasting” in the industry refers to a jointlikely to be usable for a period greater than the typical lifespan offive (5) years. Various seals have been created in the field.

Various seal systems and configurations have been developed forimposition between these panels to provide seals which provide one ormore of fire protection, waterproofing, sound and air insulation. Thistypically is accomplished with a seal created by imposition of multipleconstituents in the joint, such as silicone application, backer bars,and compressible foams.

Foam-based expansion joint seal systems are typically shipped in sticks,which often is a six-to-ten foot straight segment, or in rolls whereinthe external layer is adhered to a release tape to permit the wrappingaround a reel. Providing the joint seal system in a stick permits theproduct, in particular joint seals having a final width greater than oneinch, to be compressed at the factory, i.e. pre-compressed, laterally,so the installer on site may remove the packaging and install theexpansion joint seal system before it expands beyond the gap of theexpansion joint. Higher compression ratios, coupled with slower releasetime, facilitate the installation and function of such precompressed,stick-based expansion joint seal systems. Alternatively, the expansionjoint seal may be provided on a roll, where successive layers arewrapped around a center, permitting immediate compression duringwrapping.

Each shipping system has shortcomings. With the stick, the compressedproduct is typically encased in a shrink wrap sleeve, which shrinks whenheated. Unfortunately, this is applied to each stick, which is limitedin length due to shipping sizes, typically to six to ten foot sections.As a result, during shipping, the stick may be subjected to bendingforces, such as when loaded on a truck over other materials, whichcauses the shrink wrap to crack or fail along a seal, permitting thecompressed product to expand through the resultant opening and renderingthe product unusable. Because the packaging is sized for conventionalshipment, the sticks are typically limited to not more than ten (10)feet. Even with the size limitation the sticks are too long for easyhandling which can result in damage in transit or added delivery fees.As a result, the resulting sections must be joined with a splice to fitwithin the actual expansion joint. Moreover, because each stick isindividually packaged, when the packaging is opened, the entire stickbegins to expand. That portion which exceeds the required length isoften lost as it is cut off because it expands to size greater than theintended gap, therefore is discarded. With the roll, because anycompression is generally radially as each successive layer is deposited,compression is possible in only one direction, but difficult to controlover time due to the varying radius of the material and the potentialfor localized areas of higher or lower compression.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure therefore meets the above needs and overcomes oneor more deficiencies in the prior art by providing a packaging ofsystems for creating a durable seal between adjacent panels. Inparticular, the present disclosure provides a foam-based expansion jointseal system which can be of longer length, shipped conventionally,facilitates constant and equal compression throughout the system, andprecludes loss of large segments of material.

The disclosure provides an expansion joint seal system which includes alongitudinal body of foam in compression; a water-resistant constituent,the water-resistant constituent adhered to the longitudinal body of foamon a first surface or contained within the longitudinal body of foam incompression; and a casing helically encircling the longitudinal body offoam in compression and the water-resistant constituent.

Additional aspects, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription of the various embodiments and related drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the described features, advantages, andobjects of the disclosure, as well as others which will become apparent,are attained and can be understood in detail; more particulardescription of the disclosure briefly summarized above may be had byreferring to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in thedrawings, which drawings form a part of this specification. It is to benoted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typicalpreferred embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope as the disclosure may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 provides an end view of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 provides a side view of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 provides an end view of one embodiment of the present disclosureafter imposition between substrates.

FIG. 4 provides an illustration of a coiled embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 provides an illustration of one embodiment with internal tearstrips.

FIG. 6 provides an illustration of a structure for processing oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 providers an illustration of an alternative structure forprocessing one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the packaging 100 of the present invention isillustrated. An expansion joint seal system 102, composed of alongitudinal body of foam 104 in compression and a water-resistantconstituent 106, is surrounded by a casing 108 helically encircling thecompressed longitudinal body of foam 104, typically laterallycompressed, and the water-resistant constituent 106. The water-resistantconstituent 106 may adhered to the compressed longitudinal body of foam104 on a first surface or contained within the compressed longitudinalbody of foam 104, such as the elastomer coating depicted in U.S. Pat.No. 9,745,738 for Expansion Joint for Longitudinal Load Transfer, issuedto Schul International Company, LLC. Because the casing 108 helicallyencircles the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 and canaccommodate flexing by the overlapping casing 108, the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 may be cut to length without fear of ashrink-wrap seam failing due to flexion.

The system is particularly beneficial in connection with foam-basedexpansion joint seal systems, which are often supplied pre-compressed.Pre-compression of such expansion joint seal systems is desirable asinstallation of the uncompressed expansion joint system can beproblematic given the length, often in multiple meters, resulting inlong sections above the expansion joint while working in sections oncentimeter basis. As the expansion joint seal system may be compressedat installation between one-fifth to one-half the original width to afinal density in excess of 300 kg/m³, such installation of uncompressedproduct can be difficult. It is therefore desirable in the industry toprovide the expansion joint seal systems compressed to a size less thanthe nominal expansion joint size, so the expansion joint seal can beremoved from the packaging and rapidly installed before the expansionjoint seal system can being to relax and thereby contact the adjacentsubstrate walls. The present disclosure maintains, and may provides,such precompression with additional benefits.

To facilitate removal of the casing 108, the casing may have a casinginternal surface 110 which may have a low friction coefficient. Thecasing internal surface 110 may be a layer of the casing 108 or may beapplied to the casing 108. A casing internal surface 110 having a lowcoefficient of friction may be particularly beneficial when theassociated expansion joint seal system 102 and its compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 includes an adhesive at expansion jointseal system first and second sidewalls 150, 152.

The casing 108 may be overlapped as little as 15% of its width, or asgreat at 85%, though more or less is possible. As the overlap approaches15%, the casing 108 provides beneficial tensioning and resilienceagainst external damage.

To maintain the casing 108 in position, the casing may include anexternal surface with dinginess, such as a polyvinyl chloride or lowdensity polyethylene, or adhesive, preferably an external adhesivesurface, such that the successive layering of the casing 108 provides abond to the prior layer, and, where desired, to the expansion joint sealsystem 102 or any boards or other materials abutting the expansion jointseal system 102, which may also have adhesive surfaces. Such materialsmay be applied to only the exterior to-be-overlapped portion, such thatthe ultimate exposed surface has no such property while bonding to thesuccessive overlap. The casing 108, for example, may overlap 50% ofitself with each successive application, where the overlapped exteriorsurface has an adhesive to bond to the successive application andtherefore further retard any propagation of a tear in the resultantpackaging 100.

Because the longitudinal body of foam 104 provides elasticity andcompressibility in the packaging 100, the casing 108 may be constructedof an inelastic material. Alternatively, the casing 108 may beconstructed of a material which is elastic. Regardless of the materialfrom which the casing 108 is constructed, the casing 108 is appliedunder tension to maintain, and to impart at the level desired,compression to the longitudinal body of foam 104. Moreover, because thecasing 108 includes multiple layers of the casing 108 along theexpansion joint seal system 102, the failure at any point of the casing108 does not result in the expansion joint seal system 102 beingpermitted to expand significantly and reduces the potential for unusablematerial. This marks a substantial departure from the prior art, whereinthe shrink wrap packaging would fail due to impact or flexing, ofteninitially splitting along a seam, and then further failing as thenow-permitted expansion of the expansion joint seal system 102 furthersplit the packaging and rendered the product unusable due to the forceneeded to recompress to the necessary width. The casing 108 may be aninelastic paper of sufficient strength to resist tearing and may becoated externally with a water-resistant layer to ensure maintenance ofthe packaging 100 in case of precipitation. When desired, conventionalbandings can be applied about the packaging 100.

The casing 108 may be formed of a material of sufficient durability towithstand exposure to any additive such as a fire retardant, ahydrophobic additive, or a hydrophilic additive, which may be associatedwith the expansion joint seal system 102, such as by a coating, infusionor impregnation. Such fire retardants, in amounts sufficient to obtain adesired fire endurance rating under any of the various tests, such asE-119, UL 2079, UL 84, DIN 4102, etc., may otherwise adversely reactwith the casing 108.

The interior surface of casing 108 may be selected to ensure othermaterials do not adhere, or may be impermeable to ensure no leakage ofadditives. Water and airflow resistant constituents 106, may beadditives 132 introduced before foaming such as by mixing into theisocyanate or polyol, or after such by infusion and/or impregnation, ormay, instead be a layer 134 subsequently applied externally, such as anelastomer or may be internal membranes, force compensating and/orrecovery spring members, or other systems known in the art. Notably,such water-resistant constituents 106 may have adhesive surfaces towhich the casing 108 may apply pressure but to which the casing 108should not adhere.

The casing 108 may further include compositions on some or all of itsinner and outer surface which react when brought in contact, when thecasing 108 is overlapped, and which may therefore provide a more durablechemical bond. The casing 108 may include a first chemically sensitivecoating on a first surface and a second chemically sensitive coating ona second surface, where the first chemically sensitive coating isreactive to the second chemically sensitive coating. Likewise, thecasing 108 may include heat reactive compositions on one or bothsurfaces or itself may be heat-reactive, such that the packaging 100 maybe subjected to some degree of heating to increase the adhesion betweenlayers of the casing 108, to cause further constriction by shrinking, orto alter other properties, such as permeability or ductility. Similarly,the casing 108 may be an insulating material, precluding substantialheat transfer to the expansion joint system 102. The casing 108 maytherefore include cellulose, soy or carob oil derivatives.

Because the compression of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104of the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained by, and may beprovided by, the casing 108, the packaging 100 permits the compressionratio of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 to be adjusted asneeded, such as higher compression or lower compression, even in thesame stick or coil. Similarly, because the compression around atransition, a change in direction of the material, varies according tothe length of each successive section 114, the tension maintained in thecasing 108 during application may be reduced for those sectionssurrounding a transition. Beneficially, because the casing 108 iscontinually encapsulating, the expansion joint system 102 may includelongitudinal bodies of foam 104 of different seal sizes, i.e, acontinuation expansion joint 102 intended for use across a span whichincludes a section of narrower expansion joint width, avoiding the needfor a field splice to accommodate the varying sizes. As a result, thecasing 108 may be applied at varying radius, whether as a result ofvarying compression ratio upon application of the coating or due to theapplication of a common compression ratio as the expansion joint system102 varies in dimension.

To ensure sufficient binding of the expansion joint seal system 102, thecasing 108 may be overlapped such that a successive section 114 overlapsa prior section 112 by a quarter, 25%, of its width 116. Increasedoverlaps ensure the casing 108 remains tight against the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 of the expansion joint seal system 102,but consumes a substantially greater length of casing 108 and results ina thicker casing 108 which must be cut through prior to installation.The interior surface 110 of the casing 108 may include an adhesive edge111, or may adhere by virtue of an electrostatic charge, or by a highfriction surface, preferably on the exterior of the casing 108, or othersystems known in the art to maintain the overlap.

The resulting packaging 100 permits dispatch of an expansion joint sealsystem 102 sized to, or above, the necessary length, avoiding the needfor any field splice.

To aid cutting the expansion joint seal system 102 to the desiredlength, the casing 108 may include a distance indicator 146 at regularintervals, such as feet, yards, or meters. The presence of the distanceindicator 146 outside the packaging 100 permits the packaging 100 to becut to the needed length prior to cutting the casing 108 to open thepackaging 100. The use of the casing 108 and, where desired, thedistance indicator 146, permits a packaging 100 where the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 may have a length greater than ten feet.

Referring to FIG. 1 and to FIG. 2, an end view of the packaging 100,consistent with pre-compressed foam-based expansion joint seals, theexpansion joint seal system 102 may be positioned, while in—or priorto—compression against a board 118 or between a board 118 and a secondboard 120 prior to be encased within the casing 108. The board 118 ispositioned intermediate the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 andthe casing 108 at the interior surface 110 of the casing 108. Preferablythe board 118 has a height 224 equivalent to a height 226 of thecompressed longitudinal body of foam 104, the foam body height 226.Alternatively, the board height 224 may be equivalent to the height 228of the expansion joint seal system 102, particularly where an externallayer 134 of water-resistant constituent 106 is provided. Thus, theboard 118 is positioned intermediate the compressed longitudinal body offoam 104 and the casing 108 in contact with the casing internal surface110. A second board 120 may be positioned intermediate the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 and the casing internal surface 110.Preferably the second board 120 also has a second board height 240equivalent to the height 226 of the compressed longitudinal body of foam104. Use of one of more boards 118, 120 permits the expansion joint sealsystem 102 to be laterally compressed so the expansion joint seal systemwidth 222 is maintained in compression at a distance less than the widthof the expansion joint into which the expansion joint seal system 102 isbe imposed after removal from the casing 108. Beneficially, because thecasing 108 is provided as a single, continuous helical wrap around theexpansion joint seal system 102, the boards 118 and 120 need to be ofgreat length of even co-terminal. Shorter board 118, 120 might be usedand positioned so the ends are not co-terminal, reducing the potentialfor deflection at any single point. Such boards 118, 120 may even bespliced when appropriate, particularly when the expansion joint sealsystem 102 includes a transition, such as that the product is in morethan one plane. The boards 118, 120 may be of wood, or plastic, or highdensity paper, any may be constructed from recyclable materials. Theboards 118, 120 may be positioned on any surface of the expansion jointsystem 102, and may be of any size, any may only provide a longitudinalstrut to control flexing prior to use.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, while the first board 118 and the secondboard 120 are typically aligned in parallel planes, such that thedistances between the tops 230, 232 of the first board 118 and thesecond board 120 and bottoms 234, 236 of each of the first board 118 andthe second board 120 are equal, the first board 118 and the second board120 may be skewed, such that the distance between the first board top230 and the second board top 232 of the second board is greater than thethe distance between the first board bottom 234 and the second boardbottom 236, such as illustrated in FIG. 3. Such a skewed constructionmay be advantageous where the expansion joint seal system 102incorporates a chambered base. To ensure the compression introduced intothe longitudinal body of foam 104 is maintained along the length of astick of the expansion joint seal system 102, one or both of the board118 and the second board 120 may have a board first end 142 and a secondboard first end 144 to which the casing 108 reaches.

Beneficially, because the casing 108 may be applied after the expansionjoint seal system 102 is in lateral compression, maintaining compressionof the expansion joint system system 102 in other planes is possible.The expansion joint seal system 102 may be subjected to a longitudinalcompression in a section immediately subject to the helical encirclingby the casing 108, such that the longitudinal compression is retained bythe successive layering of the casing 108. Longitudinal compression maybe desirable to ensure that, upon release in the expansion joint, theexpansion joint seal system 102 is maintained in abutment with the endof the expansion joint and to ensure that any joint is maintained inposition. Further, the expansion joint seal system 102 may be subjectedto a vertical compression such that the expansion joint seal systemheight 228 is less than its operational height. Vertical compression maybe desirable, particularly in connection with any surface cover over theexpansion joint, such as a cover plate, to ensure the expansion jointseal system 102 abuts the cover plate after installation and, whendesired, transfers any load from the cover plate to adjacent substrate.Further because the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained incompression by the packaging 100, the compressed longitudinal body offoam 104 may be provided with different shapes and profiles, such aschamfering at the lower sides, to facilitate compression andinstallation.

Unlike any packaging 100 known in the art, use of the casing 108helically encircling the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104permits the longitudinal body of foam 104 to itself be helically curved,such that the longitudinal body of foam 104 is bent or curved into adifferent plane, off a central axis 402, and, while deflected or bent,helically bound with the casing 108, such that each successive section114 of casing 108 is bound and a constant radius is provided to resultin the application of a coiling from a casing 108 provided at theconstant radius about that central axis, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Thepackaging 100 may therefore be directed and coiled in anydirection—laterally, vertically or in any combination thereof.Eliminating the conventional stick format permits the storage andshipping of expansion joint seal systems 102 of lengths substantiallygreater than available in a stick form, potentially eliminates the needfor internal field splices, and permits conventional shipping. On thejob site, the coil 400 of the packaging 100 can be released by cuttingthe casing 108, unrolling the coil 400, and opening the packaging 100and inserting the expansion joint seal system 102 in the expansionjoint. Cutting the packaging 100 to the appropriate length using thedistance indicators 146 permits the packaging 100 to be maintained asthe coil 400 until needed. Alternatively, the coil 400 may beconstructed in a vertical plane, inducing the deflection and associatedcoiling in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal and lateral axes.

Additional components may be incorporated into the expansion joint sealsystem 102 and included in the coil 400. One such component may includeone or more longitudinal flexible members bonded to the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 at the longitudinal body of foam top 254opposite the longitudinal body of foam bottom 256 and capable oftransferring a load to the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104,which would have sufficient flexibility in the horizontal plane topermit the coiling if desired. Another component may one or moremembranes, which may be permeable or impermeable, which may extend fromone side of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 to the other,or some portion thereof, which may be in the horizontal plane and whichmay permit coiling as well. Such membranes may be used to provide an airbarrier, vapor permeability, hydrostatic head resistance,electromagnetic frequency/radio frequency interference insulators, orother functions known for association with expansion joint seal systems.Another component may be an elastomeric gland, wherein the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104 may surround the gland, be incorporated init, or some combination thereof. The packaging 100 provides thepotential for lengths far in excess of conventional lengths and, wherethe gland permits coiling of the expansion joint seal system, theexpansion joint seal system 102 may be coiled. Another component may bea combination of one or more flexible members, one or more cover plates,and one or more ribs, where the flexible member is attached to the coverplate and to the rib, such that the ribs extends into the compressedlongitudinal body of foam 104. An increased number of cover plates,functional as a series of overlapping shields, may permit the expansionjoint seal system 102 to be coiled vertically when packaged andfacilitates constant and equal compression throughout the expansionjoint seal system 102. Beneficially, the compressed longitudinal body offoam 104 may be offset with respect to these additional components, orextend past the end of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104,such that the additional component provides a mating surface for anotherexpansion joint seal system 100, to serve as a splice when desired.While a splice is ideally avoided in a run of the expansion joint sealsystem 102 by the present invention, should a second expansion jointseal system intersect the first, such as in a T or angled joint, suchadditional components may provide the splice.

Referring to FIG. 5, to further aid in installation, internal tearstrips 502 may be affixed to the casing 108 at regular intervalsassociated with the circumference of the expansion joint seal system 102and any boards 118, 120, such that the tear strips are commonlypositioned along the length of the packaging 100 and may tear the casing108 for a desired distance, such as in two-foot sections. Other toolsmay be used to separate the casing, such as box knives, particularlythose with depth control and automatic retracing systems.

The expansion joint seal system 102 may be compressed prior to or duringthe application of the casing 108. For example, the expansion jointsystem 102 may be processed through one or more sets of rollers, such asdepicted in FIG. 6, wherein each roller set 602, 604 provides anincreased compression during which any external layer 134 ofwater-resistant constituent 106 is applied by an applicator 608, andafter which the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 is subsequentlymaintained by a final roller set 606 until the application of the casing108, which may be after the imposition of the board 118, 120 about theexpansion joint seal system 102.

Alternatively, the boards 118, 120 may be applied to the sides of theexpansion joint seal system 102 prior to the imposition of compression,such as by the rollers 602, 604 as previously described, or by a lateralpress 702 as illustrated in FIG. 7. The boards 118, 120 may facilitatethe compression in both systems by resisting any problematic necking ofthe expansion joint seal system 102 when passing between rollers 620,604 or by providing a working surface for the application of force by alateral press 702. The roller system 610 depicted in FIG. 6 permits alonger run of the expansion joint seal system 102 as the board 118, 120limit the length which can be readily transported in packaging. Theroller system 610 depicted in FIG. 6 facilitates the forming of the coil400 at the final set of rollers 606, such as by a guide offsetting theexpansion joint seal system 102 after exit from the final set of rollers606, or by one roller 606 a, 606 b of the final set of rollers 606 bintroducing a greater amount of compression on one side than the other.

Alternatively, the casing 108 may itself be applied to introduce thecompression of the longitudinal body of foam 104 in the expansion jointseal system 102 during encirclement. The casing 108 therefore provides apackaging 100 which may be provided without the structural support ofboards 118, 120, which must be disposed after unpackaging. The casing108 may be tensioned, such that once a first end of the casing 108 isaffixed or bound to the expansion joint seal system 102, the casing 108under tension may be wrapped about the expansion joint seal system 102,while the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained in position,permitting the necessary amount of casing 108 to be released while thesupply of the casing 108 revolves about the expansion joint seal system102 or while the expansion joint seal system 102 is rotated about acentral axis. Where the first board 118 and the second board 120 areused, the resultant compression would be limited to lateral compression.Where the expansion joint seal system 102 is directly encircled by thecasing 108 with any board, the expansion joint seal system 102 may becompressed laterally and vertically (under compression between alongitudinal body of foam top and a longitudinal body of foam bottom).Where the rate of advance of the expansion joint seal system 102 isdecreased immediately prior to the encirclement by the casing 108, theexpansion joint seal system 102 may also be compressed longitudinally.Alternatively, where the rate of advance of the expansion joint sealsystem 102 is increased

Beneficially, the casing 108 may be used in connection with expansionjoint seal systems 102 which incorporate other components beyond alongitudinal body of foam 104, such as one or more membranes, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,803,357 and by U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication 2017-0159817, both by Schul International Company, LLC, eachof which teach a membrane extending to or beyond the sides of the foam,which may therefore be positioned against one or more of the externalsurfaces for packaging. The casing 108 may thus contact the wingedmembranes or extensions, which may serve as the bond breaker or supportfor the now-compressed expansion joint seal systems 102, such that onlythe wrapping material is required reducing weight and waste.

A second layer of casing 108 may be applied about some or all of theexpansion joint seal system 102 when encircled in the casing 108 toprovide a second compression ratio in the applied area. When a secondlayer of casing 108 is used, the overlap may be reduced to less than 15%and may be be entirely eliminated.

The foregoing disclosure and description is illustrative and explanatorythereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated constructionmay be made within the scope of the appended claims departing from thespirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited bythe following claims and their legal equivalents.

I claim:
 1. An expansion joint seal system, comprising: a longitudinalbody of foam in compression; the longitudinal body of foam incompression impregnated with a fire retardant additive; a casing intension helically compressively encircling the longitudinal body of foamin compression, the casing having an internal surface, the internalsurface contacting the longitudinal body of foam, the internal surfacehaving a low friction coefficient; and wherein a successive section ofthe casing overlaps a prior section of the casing by at least 15%. 2.The expansion joint seal system of claim 1, further comprising: a boardintermediate the longitudinal body of foam in compression and the casingat a first side of the casing, the board having a board height, thelongitudinal body of foam in compression having a foam body height, theboard height being greater than or equal to the foam body height.
 3. Theexpansion joint seal system of claim 2, further comprising: a secondboard intermediate the longitudinal body of foam in compression and thecasing at a second side of the casing, the second board having a secondboard height, the second board height being greater than or equal to thefoam body height.
 4. The expansion joint seal system of claim 3, whereinthe board and the second board are in parallel planes.
 5. The expansionjoint seal system of claim 3, wherein the board and the second board areaskew, and wherein the board has a first end adjacent a first end of thelongitudinal body of foam in compression, and the second board has afirst end adjacent the first end of the longitudinal body of foam incompression.
 6. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1, wherein thecasing is paper.
 7. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1, whereinthe casing is inelastic.
 8. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1,wherein the longitudinal body of foam in compression has a lengthgreater than ten feet.
 9. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1,wherein the casing bears a distance indicator at regular intervals. 10.The expansion joint seal system of claim 1, wherein the longitudinalbody of foam in compression is under compression laterally between afirst sidewall and a second sidewall.
 11. The expansion joint sealsystem of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal body of foam in compressionis under compression laterally between a first sidewall and a secondsidewall and is under compression longitudinally.
 12. The expansionjoint seal system of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal body of foam incompression is under compression laterally between a first sidewall anda second sidewall and the longitudinal body of foam in compression isunder compression between a longitudinal body of foam top and alongitudinal body of foam bottom.
 13. The expansion joint seal system ofclaim 1 wherein the longitudinal body of foam in compression is undercompression laterally between a first sidewall and a second sidewall,the longitudinal body of foam in compression is under compressionlongitudinally and the longitudinal body of foam in compression is undercompression between a longitudinal body of foam top and a longitudinalbody of foam bottom.
 14. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1,wherein the casing includes an external adhesive surface.
 15. Theexpansion joint seal system of claim 1, wherein the casing includes aheat sensitive coating.
 16. The expansion joint seal system of claim 1,wherein the casing includes a first chemically sensitive coating on afirst surface and a second chemically sensitive coating on a secondsurface, the first chemically sensitive coating reactive to the secondchemically sensitive coating bonding the first surface to the secondsurface.